Human-Animal Interaction

A happier rat pack: The impacts of tickling pet store rats on human-animal interactions and rat welfare

Rats find initial interactions with humans frightening, which can lead to negative affect, and poor welfare. A handling technique called “tickling”, which mimics rat rough-and-tumble play, can be used to reduce these negative effects. When tickled, rats produce 50 kilohertz...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: LaFollette, M. R., O'Haire, M. E., Cloutier, S. et al. 2018. A happier rat pack: The impacts of tickling pet store rats on human-animal interactions and rat welfare. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 203, 92-102.

A review of over three decades of research on cat-human and human-cat interactions and relationships

This review article covers research conducted over the last three decades on cat-human and human-cat interactions and relationships, especially from an ethological point of view. It includes findings on catcat and cat-human communication, cat personalities and cat-owner personalities, the effects...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Cat

Citation: Turner, D. C. 2017. A review of over three decades of research on cat-human and human-cat interactions and relationships. Behavioural Processes 141, 297-304.

Social interaction, food, scent or toys? A formal assessment of domestic pet and shelter cat (Felis silvestris catus) preferences

Domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus) engage in a variety of relationships with humans and can be conditioned to engage in numerous behaviors using Pavlovian and operant methods Increasingly cat cognition research is providing evidence of their complex socio-cognitive and problem...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Cat

Citation: Vitale Shreve, K. R., Mehrkam, L. R., Udell, M. A. R. 2017. Social interaction, food, scent or toys? A formal assessment of domestic pet and shelter cat (Felis silvestris catus) preferences. Behavioural Processes 141, 322-328.

The effects of exercise and calm interactions on in-kennel behavior of shelter dogs

Over-activity, or excessive locomotion and barking in the kennel, may be unattractive to adopters and an indicator of poor welfare of kenneled dogs. The study assessed the efficacy of two common enrichment strategies, providing calm interaction and additional exercise, on...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Dog

Citation: Protopopova, A., Hauser, H., Goldman, K. J. et al. 2018. The effects of exercise and calm interactions on in-kennel behavior of shelter dogs. Behavioural Processes 146, 54-60.

Are domestic pigs (Sus scrofa domestica) able to use complex human-given cues to find a hidden reward?

Understanding human-animal interactions in livestock production systems is crucial for improving animal welfare. It is therefore of general interest to investigate how livestock animals obtain information from humans. By using an object-choice paradigm, we investigated whether domestic pigs (Sus scrofa)...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Nawroth, C., Ebersbach, M., von Borell, E. 2016. Are domestic pigs (Sus scrofa domestica) able to use complex human-given cues to find a hidden reward? Animal Welfare 25(2), 185-190.

Literary fiction influences attitudes toward animal welfare

Literary fiction has been credited with considerable power to improve attitudes toward outgroups. It was even argued that it has been an important factor behind the global decline of violence against various minorities in the last centuries. Could it also...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: All/General

Citation: Małecki, W., Pawłowski, B., Sorokowski, P. 2016. Literary fiction influences attitudes toward animal welfare. PLOS ONE 11(12), e0168695.

Physiological damage under emotional stress as a function of early experience

Male Wistar rats were gentled for 10 minutes per day for 21 days, beginning when they were 23 days old. A control group was not gentled. At 44 and 79 days old, gentled rats weighe sginificantly more. All rats were...

Year Published: 1954Topics: Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Rat

Citation: Weininger, O. 1954. Physiological damage under emotional stress as a function of early experience. Science 119, 285-286.

Effect of person

The procedures which we have used in testing the Effect of Person are as follows: 1. The person enters the room, stands in the doorway for 10 sec., then approaches the animal, and after 30 sec. pets the animal by...

Year Published: 1966Topics: Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Cat, Dog, Guinea Pig, Macaque, Nonhuman Primate, Rabbit, Rodent

Citation: Gantt, W. H., Newton, J. E. O., Royer, F. L. et al. 1966. Effect of person. Conditional Reflex 1, 18-35.

Social environment as a factor of diet induced atherosclerosis

Rabbits were fed a high-cholesterol diet to induce atherosclerosis. Animals who received special attention from a person (frequent handling, petting, playing, gentle vocalization) showed a markedly lower incidence of atheroslerosis than subjects who received no extra attention.

Year Published: 1980Topics: Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Rabbit

Citation: Nerem, R. M., Levensque, M. J., Cornhill, J. F. 1980. Social environment as a factor of diet induced atherosclerosis. Science 208, 1475-1476.

Enriching the lives of primates in captivity

A summary of basic environmental enrichement for group-housed rhesus macaques. The essence of the social primate is lost under the stresses of the nonsocial condition.

Year Published: 1987Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Human-Animal Interaction, Husbandry & Management, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Macaque, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: O'Neill, P. L. 1987. Enriching the lives of primates in captivity. Humane Innovations and Alternatives in Animal Experimentation 1, 1-5.